Rain Partier

With the controversy over J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackmanwalking off Batwoman due to editorial interference, a lot of media focused on a single aspect of this interference, the refusal of editorial to allow Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer to get married. Of course, DC was more than happy to latch onto this, arguing that they have no problem with gay marriage, just marriage in general, because it distracted from the real issue at hand, which is over twenty creators leaving or being chased off DC books due to editorial mismanagement. But it would be, like, hard and stuff to address that issue, so "we're not homophobes" it is.

Well, this got fans talking about DC marriages that have been undone with the Nu52, and one that stood out as being kept intact was the marriage between Aquaman and Mera. After all, he is the king of fish (or something) and Mera is frequently referred to as his queen. The couple were married pre-Nu52, and Geoff Johns, the one writer besides Scott Snyder immune to editorial interference, writes his book.

However, at Baltimore Comic Con today, Dan Didio addressed the Batwoman controversy, again acting as if the marriage were the issue and not last minute editorial changes to storylines that had been in the works for over a year. This led to Bleeding Cool mogul Rich Johnstonasking a DC exec directly whether Aquaman and Mera are married, to which he was told directly that they are not married in the Nu52 and never were.

(image also from Bleeding Cool, to whom we owe our lives)

I guess when Mera is referred to as his queen, that's just in the... biblical sense? I dunno, I have no idea what it means, because it's nonsensical and pretty much an obvious retcon for the sake of winning a semantic argument over a non-issue.

All I know is that all of this is a distraction from the real issue, which is, as mentioned several times but never addressed by DC, the constant complaints about editorial interference and mismanagement.

I'll say it again: the constant complaints about editorial interference and mismanagement.

What's that? No, I'm not accusing DC of being homophobes.

I'm talking about the constant complaints about editorial interference and mismanagement.

The constant complaints about editorial interference and mismanagement.

Are we clear here now?

Editorial interference and mismanagement.

I await the responses from apologists pointing out that DC Comics isn't prejudiced against fish people.

With the controversy over J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackmanwalking off Batwoman due to editorial interference, a lot of media focused on a single aspect of this interference, the refusal of editorial to allow Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer to get married. Of course, DC was more than happy to latch onto this, arguing that they have no problem with gay marriage, just marriage in general, because it distracted from the real issue at hand, which is over twenty creators leaving or being chased off DC books due to editorial mismanagement. But it would be, like, hard and stuff to address that issue, so "we're not homophobes" it is.

Well, this got fans talking about DC marriages that have been undone with the Nu52, and one that stood out as being kept intact was the marriage between Aquaman and Mera. After all, he is the king of fish (or something) and Mera is frequently referred to as his queen. The couple were married pre-Nu52, and Geoff Johns, the one writer besides Scott Snyder immune to editorial interference, writes his book.

However, at Baltimore Comic Con today, Dan Didio addressed the Batwoman controversy, again acting as if the marriage were the issue and not last minute editorial changes to storylines that had been in the works for over a year. This led to Bleeding Cool mogul Rich Johnstonasking a DC exec directly whether Aquaman and Mera are married, to which he was told directly that they are not married in the Nu52 and never were.

(image also from Bleeding Cool, to whom we owe our lives)

I guess when Mera is referred to as his queen, that's just in the... biblical sense? I dunno, I have no idea what it means, because it's nonsensical and pretty much an obvious retcon for the sake of winning a semantic argument over a non-issue.

All I know is that all of this is a distraction from the real issue, which is, as mentioned several times but never addressed by DC, the constant complaints about editorial interference and mismanagement.

I'll say it again: the constant complaints about editorial interference and mismanagement.

What's that? No, I'm not accusing DC of being homophobes.

I'm talking about the constant complaints about editorial interference and mismanagement.

The constant complaints about editorial interference and mismanagement.

Are we clear here now?

Editorial interference and mismanagement.

I await the responses from apologists pointing out that DC Comics isn't prejudiced against fish people.

Motherfucker from Hell

Grayson wrote:This one has to be a joke or just a comment from a misinformed exec.

It COULD be. But this is DC, so it doesn't HAVE to be.

One of the problems of the internet is that it has killed satire as an art form. It has given a public forum to the stupidest members of the human race, and shown us that we can be far stupider than most of us pictured in our wildest dreams. How do you satirize that?

Motherfucker from Hell

Grayson wrote:This one has to be a joke or just a comment from a misinformed exec.

It COULD be. But this is DC, so it doesn't HAVE to be.

One of the problems of the internet is that it has killed satire as an art form. It has given a public forum to the stupidest members of the human race, and shown us that we can be far stupider than most of us pictured in our wildest dreams. How do you satirize that?

FACEBOOKTron

ok, screw it, I want to know EXACTLY what changes happened in the reboot, I don't care for mystery, I don't care future plots, I don't care for anything, you say aquaman is not married? well he has done a WONDERFUL job at keeping it a secret, because in all these 2 years I don't think the word "single" has been shout even ONCE in the entire damn series. but now, in a few months, we'll have them saying it again and again so Dan didio can say "see? they are not married".

FACEBOOKTron

ok, screw it, I want to know EXACTLY what changes happened in the reboot, I don't care for mystery, I don't care future plots, I don't care for anything, you say aquaman is not married? well he has done a WONDERFUL job at keeping it a secret, because in all these 2 years I don't think the word "single" has been shout even ONCE in the entire damn series. but now, in a few months, we'll have them saying it again and again so Dan didio can say "see? they are not married".

Outhouse Drafter

I just don't get the logic behind making a move like this for these particular characters. Look, I hate the fact that the Big 2 are splitting up established relationships in their comics at an alarming rate. I've never hid the fact that I like healthy relationships in comics, whether they are long-term dating or happily married. However, I understand why some creators may feel as though having a character attached to another character in a romantic way may limit some stories that they want to tell. I don't agree with it but I understand it. For every healthy relationship, there are relationships that simply do not work out.

That being said, you have to find a balance. There are people out there who want to read stories about young, single heroes who "sacrifice their personal lives for the greater good" just like there are people out there who want to read stories about heroes who have figured out a way to make balancing their both aspects of their life.

Outhouse Drafter

I just don't get the logic behind making a move like this for these particular characters. Look, I hate the fact that the Big 2 are splitting up established relationships in their comics at an alarming rate. I've never hid the fact that I like healthy relationships in comics, whether they are long-term dating or happily married. However, I understand why some creators may feel as though having a character attached to another character in a romantic way may limit some stories that they want to tell. I don't agree with it but I understand it. For every healthy relationship, there are relationships that simply do not work out.

That being said, you have to find a balance. There are people out there who want to read stories about young, single heroes who "sacrifice their personal lives for the greater good" just like there are people out there who want to read stories about heroes who have figured out a way to make balancing their both aspects of their life.

Motherfucker from Hell

Grayson wrote:I just don't get the logic behind making a move like this for these particular characters. Look, I hate the fact that the Big 2 are splitting up established relationships in their comics at an alarming rate. I've never hid the fact that I like healthy relationships in comics, whether they are long-term dating or happily married. However, I understand why some creators may feel as though having a character attached to another character in a romantic way may limit some stories that they want to tell. I don't agree with it but I understand it. For every healthy relationship, there are relationships that simply do not work out.

That being said, you have to find a balance. There are people out there who want to read stories about young, single heroes who "sacrifice their personal lives for the greater good" just like there are people out there who want to read stories about heroes who have figured out a way to make balancing their both aspects of their life.

There's been a lot of talk about diversity recently. You don't get diversity just by having you lead wear a cowboy hat or wield a sword. You get diversity by having characters who are fundamentally different from one another. I'm talking about characters with different backgrounds, values, opinions, lives and priorities. If you don't have that, the differences in your characters are entirely superficial. Characters that only have superficial differences who don't provide contrast with one another make for incredibly boring stories. The fact that Didio, Harras and company are embracing that superficiality in the name of their myopic vision of how things should be proves that they simply don't have even the most basic understanding of creativity and storytelling.

Motherfucker from Hell

Grayson wrote:I just don't get the logic behind making a move like this for these particular characters. Look, I hate the fact that the Big 2 are splitting up established relationships in their comics at an alarming rate. I've never hid the fact that I like healthy relationships in comics, whether they are long-term dating or happily married. However, I understand why some creators may feel as though having a character attached to another character in a romantic way may limit some stories that they want to tell. I don't agree with it but I understand it. For every healthy relationship, there are relationships that simply do not work out.

That being said, you have to find a balance. There are people out there who want to read stories about young, single heroes who "sacrifice their personal lives for the greater good" just like there are people out there who want to read stories about heroes who have figured out a way to make balancing their both aspects of their life.

There's been a lot of talk about diversity recently. You don't get diversity just by having you lead wear a cowboy hat or wield a sword. You get diversity by having characters who are fundamentally different from one another. I'm talking about characters with different backgrounds, values, opinions, lives and priorities. If you don't have that, the differences in your characters are entirely superficial. Characters that only have superficial differences who don't provide contrast with one another make for incredibly boring stories. The fact that Didio, Harras and company are embracing that superficiality in the name of their myopic vision of how things should be proves that they simply don't have even the most basic understanding of creativity and storytelling.

Outhouse Drafter

Stalzer2002 wrote:There's been a lot of talk about diversity recently. You don't get diversity just by having you lead wear a cowboy hat or wield a sword. You get diversity by having characters who are fundamentally different from one another. I'm talking about characters with different backgrounds, values, opinions, lives and priorities. If you don't have that, the differences in your characters are entirely superficial. Characters that only have superficial differences who don't provide contrast with one another make for incredibly boring stories. The fact that Didio, Harras and company are embracing that superficiality in the name of their myopic vision of how things should be proves that they simply don't have even the most basic understanding of creativity and storytelling.

Exactly. Right now one of the big discussions going on is the editorial mandate that Batwoman can't get married because she is a member of the Batfamily and members of the Batfamily don't get married because Batman related characters aren't allowed to have a happy personal life. That concept alone is absolutely ridiculous. If everybody in the Batfamily is miserable, then why would we even need a Robin anymore? Batman's supporting cast are the people who remind Bruce exactly what he continues to fight for, they prevent him from losing too much of himself to the darkness.

I doubt that the fans are clamoring for everybody in the Batfamily to remain bitter, old spinsters for the rest of their existence. This mandate against marriage in DC is simply ridiculous.

Outhouse Drafter

Stalzer2002 wrote:There's been a lot of talk about diversity recently. You don't get diversity just by having you lead wear a cowboy hat or wield a sword. You get diversity by having characters who are fundamentally different from one another. I'm talking about characters with different backgrounds, values, opinions, lives and priorities. If you don't have that, the differences in your characters are entirely superficial. Characters that only have superficial differences who don't provide contrast with one another make for incredibly boring stories. The fact that Didio, Harras and company are embracing that superficiality in the name of their myopic vision of how things should be proves that they simply don't have even the most basic understanding of creativity and storytelling.

Exactly. Right now one of the big discussions going on is the editorial mandate that Batwoman can't get married because she is a member of the Batfamily and members of the Batfamily don't get married because Batman related characters aren't allowed to have a happy personal life. That concept alone is absolutely ridiculous. If everybody in the Batfamily is miserable, then why would we even need a Robin anymore? Batman's supporting cast are the people who remind Bruce exactly what he continues to fight for, they prevent him from losing too much of himself to the darkness.

I doubt that the fans are clamoring for everybody in the Batfamily to remain bitter, old spinsters for the rest of their existence. This mandate against marriage in DC is simply ridiculous.

Strict31 wrote:I'm not sure that combining the nigh-uncontrollable power of LOLtron with the Nacireman is a good idea. Some years from now, when mankind is on the verge of extinction, we'll be able to look back and remember this moment, and say, "DANG."